Taking God At His Word. How To Take God's Word Seriously.

Some of you following my blog about taking God’s Word, the Bible, seriously, might be wondering where I'm leading with our study on the significance of words and understanding the original meanings intended. 

When I write about taking each word seriously I’m not talking about just taking the gist of what the Word says, but rather, to be as the Bereans did. (Acts 17:11 the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.) I believe we are to take careful account of  the nuances of the particular word choice used by the Holy Spirit in the original Hebrew and Greek  in the Old and New Testament. Don't you?

When I was a new believer I read the Bible as a story book. But decades of being a Christian has taught me that the depth of meaning of any particular passage runs deep. My purpose in delving into the importance of the meaning of each word, the choice of names—for both people and places-- used and even the numbers the Holy Spirit had written down, must bear significance.

But what practical significance does that have on my life, you might ask? For one, knowing the meaning of names will help us know God better. If you knew that one of God's names is Jehovah Jireh and that this means the "Lord will Provide," you will know that the God of this Universe means to be your provider in every way.

Understanding the words chosen will not only help us to grasp the true meaning of passages, (2 Peter 1:20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things) but  it can enrich our lives in many ways.

Let’s examine more names. 

Have you ever read genealogies and wonder what significance it has to you? Or wonder how it might have shed light on the story of redemption? After all, Jesus did profess on the road to Emmaus that all scriptures testify of Him? (John 5:39 These are the very Scriptures that testify about me.)

The following example of names in Genesis chapter 5 is not the only instance of where names testify of Jesus’ coming. Other instances, which I will touch upon in weeks to come, will show the importance of names in the Bible.

Most Christians may already know that Adam means “Man”. But have you considered the genealogy of Noah, (whose name means “Rest” or “Comfort”)? To expedite matters, below is the genealogy of Noah. If we put the meanings of the names in the genealogy beside each it would be thus:

The  List of Names in the Genealogy:

Hebrew                English

Adam                    Man

Seth                       Appointed

Enosh                    Mortal

Kenan                  Sorrow

Mahalalel            The Blessed God

Jared                   Shall come down

Enoch                  Teaching

Methuselah         His death shall bring

Lamech                 The despairing

Noah                Rest, or comfort

Hidden within the genealogy of Noah in Genesis is God’s redemption plan! Did a group of Jewish rabbis deliberately "contrived" to hide the "Christian Gospel" in a genealogy within their venerated Torah? I think not. Especially since the rabbis are not pro-Jesus in any way.

To summarize, if we were to string the names above together it would read:

Man appointed mortal sorrow, the Blessed God shall come down, teaching His Death shall bring rest or comfort.

So, who was the “Man” who was appointed (ordained) to have “mortal sorrow”? (Isaiah 53:8 says, By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.) Can you guess who this Man appointed to mortal sorrow is?

Indeed did the Blessed God come down in the form of Jesus! What comfort is this news to us, Believers, who know that teaching about HIS Death bring comfort of salvation and rest for our souls as we rejoice with unbelievers who turn to Christ. And to think even a string of names hides the redemption story. Might there be other treasures in scriptures we have overlooked?

Next week let’s look at the name “Adam” and study its significance in the story of redemption. Till we meet again, friends.

About Emma Right, Author,
Author of Award Winning Young Adult and Children fiction, Emma Right homeschools her five children and is a happy housewife living on the Pacific Coast. She is also a lover of animals and cares for may pets. She is also an award winning copywriter with major advertising agencies. She hopes that through her writing she can empower readers for Jesus, be it through her fiction or through her blogs. For more on her books, emmaright.com .

See the Lord!

Job 42:5 5“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You.

You may have heard of God from a friend or colleague. Perhaps you continue to hear of Him in church services on Sundays. Like Job, you say to God, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear.” But God also wants you to be able to say to Him, “But now my eye sees You.” When Job told the Lord, “My eye sees You,” he was not saying that he saw God physically. He was referring to the moment when he had a personal revelation of God. Why was it so important for Job to have a personal revelation of God? You see, God wanted Job to know that without a personal revelation of Him, the devil could easily steal from him. But from the moment that Job had a personal revelation of God, things got a lot better for him, with God restoring to him double of everything that he had lost. (Job 42:10–16)

How does the bible define righteousness?

Since our sons started debating I learnt quite a few things about what makes an argument valid, or relevant or logical. So why is it so important to be any of these? because anyone can argue, even the two year old who insists that they don't have o sleep hen it's already late. But most moms and dads can easily refute their arguments because they are so blatantly illogical or irrelevant or invalid. Some arguments are not so obviously faulty so knowing what makes them unsound is important otherwise we will be tossed about by every new verdict someone, or cult, throw our way. 

One of the most crucial things to look out for from the onset of an argument is definitions. So what is righteousness according to the bible? After all for those of us who believe it to be the inerrant word of God, that's all the bible's opinion is all that matters, right? Everything else is just man's words.

Righteousness Is Not Right Doing But Right Being 
 
Romans 4:5
5But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,

What do you think righteousness is about? Something you do or something you are? Right doing or right being?

The Bible tells us that after Jesus’ sacrifice at the cross, God imputes righteousness not to those who strive to obey the law (Galatians 2:16), but to anyone who believes in His Son.

¹⁶ knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

Because Christ took our sins and gave us His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21), the moment we believe in Him, God treats us as righteous apart from our works or obedience. (Romans 4:5–8) This is new covenant righteousness — a righteousness that comes by faith and not works.

^2Cor:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

^{Romans 4:}  But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, ⁶just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: 
       ⁷ “ Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
      And whose sins are covered;
       ⁸ Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.”^[a]

You are not righteous because of how morally upright you are. You are not righteous because you exercise self-control. You are not righteous because you read 10 chapters of the Bible daily. You are not righteous because you feel righteous. But you are the very righteousness of God in Christ solely because the sacrifice of Jesus made you so. When you believe this, your faith is accounted for righteousness.

And this is what God wants you to use your faith for. If you are righteous by your deeds, you don’t need faith. You also don’t need faith to know that you are sinful. But you need faith to believe and declare that you are the righteousness of God in Christ, in the midst of your struggles with temptation and sin.

The bible is the words of truth

Start the year armed with God's word and have a healthy 2011

I hope you all had a meaningful Xmas and your 2011 will be blessed with God's Shalom!

Recently, we witnessed an incredible miracle in our family. My brother in law’s son had a golf ball size tumor in his son's head miraculous disappeared. It didn't disappear immediately- it was much like how Christ healed the blind man, by phases- but disappear it did over a period of more than six months. The doctors wanted it excised the moment they saw it as it protruded into the brain cavity of this 10 year old boy but they didn't get the op. And now it's all gone. I continue to pray the Lord will show you all HIS magnificent love for you.

Healing Teaching for today. 

Genesis 1 – creation was perfect.  No sickness, no death.  Work was easy.  Whatever Adam did prospered without sweat (self effort and toil).  Creation was perfect.  But when man fell, the death curse entered.

Gen 2:17 - and of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou dost not eat of it, for in the day of thine eating of it -- dying thou dost die.' (Young’s literal translation)   The fall means man enters into the realm of death – which brings with it sickness, decay

Gen 3:4  And the serpent saith unto the woman, `Dying, ye do not die.  Notice that man did not die physically the moment he ate but he started dying from that point.

Gen 3:17  To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’   “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. ..    (Curse now enters)

Gen 3:19  By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”  (Sweat enters, means before this Adam’s work was without sweat)

Deut 28 lists what God says are blessings and curses.  Many people are confused.  Some even say that a sickness is a blessing.  We need to call something a curse or blessing by what God calls them. 

Blessings

Deut 28  All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:  

Deut 28:4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

Deut 28:11 The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you.

Curses

Deut 28:18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

Deut 28:22  The Lord will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish.

Deut 28:27 The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured.

Deut 28:61  The LORD will bring against you every sickness and plague there is, even those not mentioned in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.

Redemption from the Curse.  The Son of God took our place taking our curse.

Gal 3:13  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”*

Now lets look at Isaiah 53 which speaks about Jesus’ suffering.  The translation below is which in the literal Hebrew, tells us Jesus carried our sicknesses (choliy in Hebrew is sickness).  Since Jesus was never sick the only time that He could carry our sicknesses was when He hung on a tree (the cross) and took our curses.  While we had to use the literal translation of Isaiah 53 to see that Jesus carried our sicknesses we can read Matt 8:17 in any bible which quotes these passages in Isaiah explain that Jesus Himself took our sicknesses which is the very reason He healed all who were sick who came to Him.

Isaiah 53:3  He is despised, and left of men, A man of pains, and acquainted with sickness, And as one hiding the face from us, He is despised, and we esteemed him not.

Isaiah 53:4   our sicknesses he hath borne, And our pains -- he hath carried them, And we -- we have esteemed him plagued, Smitten of God, and afflicted.

Matt 8:16  When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick,

Matt 8:17  that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He Himselftook our infirmities And bore our sicknesses."

Since we have redemption from the curse, how do we enforce this in our lives?  Here it says that the power of God to saves us is found in the gospel or good news of Jesus Christ.  We need to understand and receive the good news of Jesus Christ – that he has redeemed us from the curse – and to believe the truth – because this good news is the power of God to save us.

Rom 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation (soteria in Greek) for everyone who believes

Acts 27:34  Wherefore I pray you to take [some] meat: for this is for your health (soteria): for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you.  (this was Paul encouraging the sailors who feared shipwreck)

Jesus the Son of God does what He sees His Father doing.  What did Jesus do ?  Is there anyone that Jesus refused to heal ?  Therefore it is clear that Father God is healing – which Jesus imitated.  There is no one sick in heaven.  So we know the will of Father God is to heal all.

John 5:19   Jesus replied, "I assure you, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.

Lets see how the bible confirm this as follows.

Matt 4:23  And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

Matt 9:35   And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

The Lord’s Prayer that Jesus taught says Father God’s will be done in earth as in heaven. What is this will ?  Jesus showed us what Father God is doing and what His will is – to heal.

Matt 6:10  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as [it is] in heaven.

Most people know God is able to heal but are not sure if He is willing.  We have already seen what the will of Father God is which is to heal because Jesus does only what He sees His Father doing.  Now look at what Jesus says to the request from the Leper.  He says.”I AM WILLING”.

Mark 1:40 Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, "If You are willing, You can make me clean."

Mark 1:41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed."

Now Jesus healed a woman with a spirit of infirmity.  But the religious leaders complained that she ought not to have been healed on the Sabbath.  Jesus answered and said ought not this daughter of Abraham be healed on the Sabbath?  Notice that Jesus was saying that it is a right of  a child of Abraham to be healed.. 

Luke 13:16 "So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?"

Now see how the bible tells us that we who believe in Jesus the Son of God are children of Abraham.  Therefore according to Jesus, ought not we who are children of Abraham be healed?  It is a blood bought right.

Gal 3:7  Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham.

So now that we know for certain that healing is the desire and will of God for us.  And that the curse due to us has been carried by Jesus who took our place.  And that we are redeemed from the curse.  Hen we know that every sickness is illegal and trespassing against the wonderful sacrifice of our Lord Jesus.  So now we have the good news (Gospel) of Jesus Christ – we now have the power of God to save us.  So it remains for us only to believe to receive what is freely given because of the immense price paid by the Son of God.

Mark 11:24  "Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

Matt 21:22 "And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

Is God willing to heal you?

Matthew 8:3
3Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

The leper must have heard or seen from a distance about all that Jesus did, since he was not permitted to be in public places by the law- how Jesus had healed the sick.

So he had no doubt that Jesus could heal him, but he was not sure if Jesus would.

He said to Jesus, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” (Matthew 8:2)

He was confident of the power of God, but not the love of God for him.

Maybe you don’t have a problem believing that God can give you your miracle, since He is Almighty God, but wonder if He will do it for you. Let Jesus’ actions and answer to the leper settle this question once and for all. He stretched forth His hand, touched the leper and said, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately, the leper was healed.

Jesus touched the leper! He could have healed him from a distance with just a spoken word.

He had healed others this way as in the case of the centurion’s servant and the Syro-Phoenician

woman’s daughter. But why did Jesus touch the leper?

Jesus knew that for so many years, the leper had been cut off from his family and society,so he must have been feeling dehumanized. I believe that Jesus touched him to make him  feel loved and accepted again.

Can you see how much Jesus loved the leper? That is how much He loves you!

The day that you come to know God’s heart of love and believe that He wants you blessed more than you want to be blessed is the day that you receive your miracle!

Catch a glimpse of God’s heart of love, and you will believe that He is not only able, but also willing to make you whole! My prayer is that you will believe this. And if you don't ask God, tell him, 'I believe, but help me in my unbelief.'

Start 2011 with victorious living

Matthew 4:4
4But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

God breathed into man and he became a living being. (Genesis 2:7) All Scripture is God-breathed. (2 Timothy 3:16, NIV) which means that when you read the Bible or listen to God’s Word preached, you are imbibing the very breath of God which gives you life.

That is why there may have been times you walked into church feeling tired at first, but left the service refreshed, energized. God’s Word had breathed life into your body.  Spend time in God’s Word and you will feel life flow in your body. The zoe LIFE Jesus talks about when he said, I have come to give you life and life more abundantly. .

Proverbs 4:22 says that God’s words are “life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh”. So if you are under the weather or if symptoms are attacking your body, double up on God’s medicine- feed more on God’s Word, life and health will flow through your body again.
Remember man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. If it is important to eat our meals every day, how much more feeding on God’s Word?

If you need a bible go to biblegateway.com or blueletterbible.com and get one soon. Start living victoriously today.

In the story ‘King’s Blood’, Jules Blaze and the people of Doomsbury learn this lesson the hard way. Hopefully you don’t have to.